The Doughnut Battle at 86’d Mondays at the Drake Hotel

One of my guilty pleasures was to dive into the gourmet indulgence that was 86’d Mondays at the Drake Hotel.  I haven’t been coming to these regular Monday events for a while this past summer as I have been away for a vacation and have to double time to catch up with work when I came back.  Now that things were falling back into the comfortable rhythm of my usual routine, I can bask again experiencing the treats that 86’d Mondays bring.  What big a treat it was when we found out that this Monday was The Ultimate Doughnut Battle!

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For a few months now I have seen the rise of the gourmet doughnuts onto the Toronto food scene.  More and more original doughnut creations pop up east and west of Toronto and this week was the ultimate face-off.  In attendance were Leslieville’s Paulette’s Original Doughnuts, Parkdale’s GloryHole Doughnut, TUM veteran Dough by Rachelle,  the Distillery’s The Sweet Escape Patisserie and Little Italy’s Bestellen.

For tonight’s line-up:

Blueberry Balsamic Glazed Doughnut – Paulette’s Original Doughnuts

Toast and Butter Doughnut – Glory Hole Doughnuts

Ultimate Bacon and Maple – Dough by Rachelle

Pumpkin Pie Doughnut – The Sweet Escape Patisserie

Bear Claw Doughnut Maple Whisky Cream – Bestellen

It was good that I have a crowd of friends, old and new, to share the doughnuts with and I am not guilty at all the sugar overload I had tonight.  It’s quite fun to break off a piece of the doughnut and bounce it off a friend opposite me as if toasting it like wine.  I must say of all what I tasted, I am still taken over by Paulette’s Blueberry Balsamic.  Just like the first time I tasted it, I am amazed of its balance of sweet and tartness.  My vote goes to Paulette’s and I am glad that the crowd agreed with me.  Paulette’s won this ultimate doughnut battle.  Or maybe it was our sweet tooth that ended up victorious? ;)